doctor. the baby's dad caught this on camera, and he tells us how it happened. >> the doctor called me over and said, hey, she's grabbing my finger. so i ran over there and grabbed the shot and i was just in awe looking at it. it was such an aamazing picture. >> in all they were. there is the shot. can you believe that? it's incredible. even the hospital staff and you just know they've seen it, they were xwlesed by this. they said there was something almost spiritual about that moment. just remarkable. you wow. we'll all guilty of doing monday-morning quarterbacking, but a 3-year-old makes the right call, and she can be a monday-morning quarterback anytime. during the outlaw bowl the refs gave michigan a questionable call. with pencil in hand she calls out the res. >> he's really touching it.

it's really not, because it closer to that. and it's a little bit of a spot. the referee said it's touching that pole, but it's really not. >> you tell 'em. love her. thank you, everyone, for joining us. i'm fresh out of time, but stay tuned for "newsroom international" with suzanne malveaux. >> welcome to "cnn newsroom." here's what's going on right now. history is made on the floor of the u.s. house and senate. the 113th congress is convening for the first time. the gavels came down moments ago, all re-elected and newly elected officers take the oath of office. there were 97 freshman, 84 in the house, 13 in the senate. while republicans still control

the house, democrats gained seats in both chambered, two more in the senate, eight more in the house. a bit of added drama as well on the house side. speaker john boehner hoping to hold john to his leadership position. he has lost some support from some republicans that were outraged he delayed a vote on hurricane sandy relief. boehner and nancy pelosi are officially nominated in about 40 minutes or so. then the voting begins. we want to bring in our team keeping a close eye on history being made. of course, wolf blitzer and gloria borger are in washington and dana bash live on capitol hill. wolf, we'll start off with you. you've probably lost count on the number of times you have covered this event and watched this take place. we'll talk about boehner in a minute, but talk a little bit about the diversity we see in this congress. never the liking before. record number of women in the senate, record number of latinos in the house.

how will this impact whether or not the president can get more done in the second term? >> well, as important as it is to have a congress, a house and a senate that looked like the united states of america and there will be 20 women as you point out among the 100 senators, there will a lot more women and minorities, hispanics and african-americans in the house of representatives. when all is said and done, there are democrats and republicans, and there is a democratic majority in the senate and there's a republican majority maintained in the house of representativess. the president has to deal with those facts of life. in the senate as you know and as our viewers know, on really important issues even though there's 55 democrats, 53 democrats, two independents who will caucus with the democrats, 55-45, even though there will be a democratic majority, you still need 60 to get important stuff done so the republicans will have a little check on that. the house of representatives, i think, the final number is 233 republicans, 200 democrats, two

vacancies right now. the republicans still have an impressive majority in the house of representatives. as diversity is important, suzanne, the political parties are pretty important as well. the president is going to have his challenges dealing with this congress. >> we've seen partisanship in the first term. i want to bring in gloria to talk about the republicans licking their wounds it seems after the presidential election. there are less freshmen in the house, fewer republican faces than that the last congress and quite a bit of division within the party itself. what do you make of their potential power going into the second term? >> i think what we're seeing is pretty much an open civil war in the republican party. some republicans will say the president caused that. i would say they did to themselves actually. this is a party that's trying to figure out where it stands. it lost a presidential election. you have a speaker -- >> i want to interrupt for a minute because they're doing the pledge of allegiance to begin

the ceremony. >> 2013. all certificates, the chairs advised, are in the forms suggested by the senate or contain all essential requirements for all of the forms suggested by the senate. if there is no objection, the reading of the certificates will be waived and they will be printed in full in the record. if the senate -- >> the vice president joe biden. we want to go to dana. i understand she has house speaker boehner with her. dana. >> reporter: mr. speaker, how are you feeling, sir? just so you know he has a policy of not talking to reporters in the hallway, so that's what that was about. that was a smile saying, come on, you know i'm not going to answer you. he was walking from his office into the house chamber for the beginning of the session and most importantly for what we see happen in a matter of minutes,

which is going to be the election of the speaker. what we're going to be watching for is to see if there are very many defections on the republican side. >> all right. dana, i know that you've had a chance to do the back and forth with the house speaker and john boehner. he doesn't answer many questions. he has infuriated a lot of republicans including chris christie and new york congressman peter king regarding the superstorm sandy aid. i want to ask you that, but in a moment we want to get back to the floor here. house and senate members taking the oath of office. let's listen in. >> you're being to enter so help you god. >> i do. >> congratulations, senator. congratulations. [ applause ]

>> we are watching representative tammy baldwin. she is signing the pledge, the oath that she has taken the vice president swearing in the senators there on the floor. we are now watching from wyoming john barbarraso. i talked to him the other day about his impressions and what he's looking forward to. that's sherry brown of ohio signing and giving the congratulations and, of course, the handshakes. wolf, i want you to talk a little bit about this moment and

what this means. you have new senators who are signing the pledge there. there are 13 new senators that signed on. this is a special moment for our country. >> they bring in a few senators at a time to be sworn in by the president of the united states, who is the vice president of the united states, joe biden. they walk them in. usually the senior senator -- or their colleague from that state. these are senators just re-elected. they're walking in, and you see they're accompanied by a colleague. they will raise their hands. they'll be sworn in by the vice president. you know what? let's just watch the ceremony, because it's going to be repeated several times. >> please raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear you will

support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic, you bear truth faith and allegiance of the same and you take this without mental reservation and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office you're about to enter so help you god. >> i do. >> congratulations, senator. [ applause ] >> this is the ceremony going on. the newly elected members are coming in. 123 n 12 newly accepted senators and one independent angus king of maine and the 13th if you count tim scott of south carolina. he's succeeding jim demint, who decided to give up his senate seat in order to become president of the heritage foundation, a think tank here in

washington. dana bash is watching what's going on. gloria, as we watch this ceremony, the vice president plays an important role as the president of the senate, but in the last few days he played an incredibly important role in making sure this fiscal cliff deal got through working with the republican leader mitch mcconnell. >> right. don't forget the vice president is a long-time veteran of the senate, has relationships that span decades. of course, he got the phone call from mitch mcconnell saying, can anybody around here cut a deal? and the two men, wolf, really worked together to get that deal done. there were lots of folks angry about it in the congress. dana knows this better than anyone. they were mad because they were kind of cut out, including at certain points, harry reid, the leader of the democrats. the president said to joe biden get this deal done, and so he did. he's being heralded as a hero by some, but by others who think

there weren't enough promises made on the budget cuts in it, they're saying that he punted. >> here comes the next batch of senators to be sworn in for this term, for this 113th congress. similar ceremonies are going to take place on the house side as well. the 112th congress is now history. not a whole lot of legislation passed the house and senate and went to the president's desk for his signature. there's a lot of people saying, maybe the 113th congress will be more productive than the 112th congress was, not necessarily a high hurdle to pass. let's listen to the vice president. >> supported to defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic. that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. you take it without purpose of evasion and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you're about to enter so help you god. >> i do. >> congratulations, senators.

>> there's the newly elected senator from texas, dianne feinstein from california, the veteran senator, the chair of the senate intelligence committee. if you take a look, dana, if you can hear me, look at some of these new senators. 20 women will be in this united states senate, 20 out of 100. that's a record. that's pretty impressive. >> reporter: oh, absolutely. there are more female senators than ever before. but, you know, on the flipside of that. it is still only 20% of the senate. women make up more than a majority of the country. so they're doing better, but still have a ways to go to really match the way the country looks. having said that, you know, these women talking to them in the hallways, the new senators and house members and even those who have been here for a long time. they're not shy about the facts that they think if there were more of them even that things

would run a lot more smoothly here. in fact, the democratic leader, nancy pelosi, said earlier today just that. that she thinks that just by nature women are more consensus builders. so it could help more to have them not just around but in positions of leadership. so definitely are a lot of women who are extremely excited. one other bit of history in the new congress, barbara mikulski, the senator of maryland is the first female chair of the appropriations committee, which, of course, is one of the most powerful committees in all of congress. >> that will be impressive. you know, suzanne malveaux, you've covered washington for a long time as well. i don't know about you, but i still get excited when i watch these ceremonies. history unfolding. the start of the 113th congress rilt here in washington. >> you know, i mean, every time you watch it, it really is kind of exciting. you think about it.

all these other countries really don't have this turnover, a peaceful turnover of power. isasmuch as we're frustrated by the congress, 12% approval rate at this point, there is a certain sense that this is something that is historic and that it's a tradition that we respect. certainly we hope that the members of this congress are going to behave in a way different than the last go-around, putting a lot of things off at the last-minute. we want to talk about some of the -- a little bit of the color there at least on the senate side. when they go up they sign the oath and keep that pen them. there's a ceremony that happens later in the afternoon for the families of those senators, a reenactment if you will with the vice president that happens later in the afternoon. this is something that's special and important to the american people. obviously, for our cameras and their colleagues there, but also for their families, the people who are part of watching their loved ones participate in a representative government. that really is quite

extraordinary and unique when you think about it. i want to bring in gloria borger to talk about what you think this new congress is going to be able to accomplish in the second term with the president. are we looking at potential immigration reform? are we looking at gun control as two possible accomplishments, things the president can actually work with this congress to push through? >> first of all, i just want to add something on the diversity we've been talking about, because what's interesting to me is when i was sort of a young congressional reporter covering the senate, the big deal was that barbara mikulski got women allowed to wear pants on the senate floor. now here she is. it's so wonderful. here she is the chairman of one would argue the most powerful committee now in the united states senate. when i first met her, she was talking about being allowed to wear pants. that's another story. in terms of the agenda, i do think there's going to be a long list, but there's a question of how much of a speed bump the

debt ceiling is going to be and all of these fiscal issues are going to be. the president clearly has a path towards getting immigration reform. i would argue he might want to partner with a republican, as odd as that sounds, like marco rubio, to get something done in a bipartisan way from the outset. >> gloria, we'll talk more about that in a little bit. we want our viewers to know at the top of the screen, you're looking at the house floor there, and the ceremonies taking place as the representatives are being ushered into the room on the bottom there of the screen. that is on the senate side. we're going to follow this cleese aclose and take a quick break and bring you live coverage of the 113th congress being sworn in. ive hea. bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ woman ] learn from my story.

before you begin an aspirin regimen. sfx- "sounds of african drum and flute" look who's back. again? it's embarrassing it's embarrassing! we can see you carl. we can totally see you. come on you're better than this...all that prowling around. yeah, you're the king of the jungle. have you thought about going vegan carl? hahaha!! you know folks who save hundreds of dollars by

switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than antelope with night-vision goggles. nice! get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. [ male announcer ] when diarrhea hits, kaopectate stops it fast. powerful liquid relief speeds to the source. fast! [ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kaopectate.

you're watching on the house floor there. there were 84 new representatives sworn in the house today. this is the 113th congress. you look at at the assembly there. the house democratic caucus is the most diverse than it's been. we look at a totally different look when it comes to congress. the majority of members are women or non-white. that's the first time it happens in the house. some other notables as well. 57 house democrats are women, and 20 house republicans women as well, record number of latinos, looking at 28 latinos also being sworn in the house. i want to talk a little bit about specifically who we're looking at. ted cruz is a republican from texas. he's one of them. he's a freshman, and he's a tea party favorite. jim acosta caught up with him this morning. jim, give us a sense who he is. he got a lot of attention at the rnc convention last year.

>> reporter: well, suzanne, he was a tea party favorite in the run-up to last november's elections, and it's interesting to note as a lot of americans seem to be saying at least in the polls that they want the congress to work together. they want republicans and democrats to work together on matters such as the fiscal cliff. they have sent more partisans into the capitol, and one of the those partisans is ted cruz. he's a tea party conservative and was the solicitor-general down in texas before running for the senate. he's a graduate of princeton and harvard and also the son of a cuban-american immigrant, but i had a chance to talk with him just briefly earlier this morning because he had been very critical of the negotiated agreement between mitch mcconnell and the vice president, joe biden, on the fiscal cliff. he made no bones about it when i talked to him heading into the capitol earlier this morning. here's what he had to say. is this going to be a time for compromise do you think in the next couple of months? >> i hope it is a time for solving the problems we have. we have enormous fiscal and economic problems, and i hope

the members of congress are ready to get serious about solving them. >> reporter: were you disappointed how the fiscal cliff went down? >> i was. i think it was a lousy deal. i think it raised taxes by $620 billion, which is hurt the economy and kill jobs. it combined that not with spending cuts but with spending increases, $330 billion in additional spending. that doesn't solve the problems we've got. i think we need to get serious about solving these problems and about not bankrupting the country. >> and i should note, suzanne, i sh shot that on my iphone earlier this morning. some many new members flooding the capitol, you have to get them any way you can. behind me in the russell rotunda, the senate office building, that elizabeth warren, she is going to be paying a visit to a swearing-in party happening behind me. on the other side of the aisle she's also somebody who is expected to be fairly partisan in terms of how she will vote

and how she will conduct herself up here on the capitol, suzanne. >> jim, i don't know if a lot of people realize that. it's a unique thing about covering the hill. people pass you by all the time in the hallways and elevators. there's a lot of access. it's not very much like the white house. you get a chance to grab them any way you can through the iphone or in the gym as dana has also done as well. jim, thank you very much. appreciate it. we want to bring back wolf to talk a little bit about looking ahead here. a new congress, the 113th. i know they've got at least sandy hurricane aid that is on the agenda. what can we expect? there's going to be some really hard-fought battles when it comes to the budget and also raising the debt ceiling as well. >> well, the president says he's not going to negotiate raising the nation's debt ceiling when it comes up at the end of february or the latest early march. he says that the congress is just going to have to do it as they always do it. republicans have a very different notion, and we're

talking -- there's the vice president getting ready to swear in in newly elected members of the senate over there. you can see them right there. the vice president will swear them in. they're doing a batch of four at a time. that's going to go on for a while. every two years a third of the senate. there's tim scott, who is the new senator on the left, the new senator from south carolina who is taking over for jim demint who gave us his seat and elizabeth warren, the newly elected senator from massachusetts who beat scott brown there. i think this debt ceiling, to answer your question, suzanne, that debt ceiling is a huge, huge battle even though the president says he's not part of the battle or negotiate the raising of the debt ceiling. congress has to do it. i suspect a bitter fight the at the end of the february. it will go on. the republicans say they'll raise the debt ceiling, but they want to make sure that whatever they raise it by, let's say a trillion dollars, there's a

similar cut in spending so it doesn't increase the nation's debt. get ready for a bruising battle on that front. >> gloria, do we think the president can accomplish when he's looking at his legacy some of the things that have been very dear to him when you look at the 113th congress. that there will be less of this partisanship, that elbe able to break through? it was one of the pledges in the first go-around he was going to change washington. it has not been something he's able to accomplish with the former congress. >> no, it isn't. i think looking at the fight we just had and the fight wolf is talking about, i think it's hard to be optimistic about how these two sides are going to work together. when you look at the debt ceiling fight coming up, that's really republican turf, cutting the budget and spending and cutting the size of government just as the president ran on taking away the tax cuts for the wealthy, republicans have spent the last four years running on

making government smaller. so this is their turf. that's what they're going to want to talk about. but, as we were talking about earlier, members of congress these days tend to get things done when it's in their own self-interest. what's in republican self-interest and democrat self-interest is immigration reform. i think if there's anything we can look towards and say, wait a minute. let's be a little optimistic about something, i think it would be that issue, because republicans saw that hispanic voters in this last election went for democrats by more than 3-1. they want to get something done. >> we're watching a historic occasion as both senators and members of the house of representatives sworn in as the new 113th congress. wolf blitzer, gloria borger, thank you for your help and your analysis. we'll bring you back in a half hour or so. you're watching "cnn newsroom." we're going to be right black. t

luckily, her family wasn't there, but what if this happened here? what if our girls were home? and since we can't monitor everything 24/7, we got someone who could. adt. [ male announcer ] while some companies are new to home security, adt has been helping to save lives for over 135 years. we have more monitoring centers, more of tomorrow's technology right here today, and more value. 24/7 monitoring against burglary, fire, and high levels of carbon monoxide starting at just over $1 a day. and now get adt installed for just $99. isn't your family worth america's number-one security company, adt? our girls got us thinking, but the break-in got us calling. and after buying two of everything, it was nice to only need one security system -- adt. [ male announcer ] get adt installed for just $99. and ask about adt pulse, advanced home management here today. adt. always there.

there are 97 new members sworn in. a very diverse group among the new chambers there. there are 13 new senators sworn in. 84 new representatives in the house. more women, more hispanics. openly gay senator as well. this is a group that has been working with the president for his second term to see if they can push forward an agenda. a lot of controversial issues on the plate. you talk about the budget deal as well as the debt ceiling among other things. we're following another story. suspected u.s. drone strike has now killed a top taliban command

er. he's believed to be behind a number of attacks on the united states and nato forces in afghanistan. two of his deputies also died in that strike. it happened in pakistan's volatile tribal region in the province of south wazirstan. pakistani officials say the men were among 15 killed today in drone attacks. u.s. officials insists the use of unmanned aircraft with missiles is successful on to fight terrorist elements, but human rights groups says the number of civilians killed is too high. peter bergen joins us from washington. tell us about how the obama administration has relied on these drone strikes and what they've been able to accomplish. >> well, they've killed 37 leaders of al qaeda and the taliban, but they've also in the process killed hundreds of others. there's a controversy about how many civilians. i work at a foundation called

the new america foundation where we track it carefully. we calculate there were five civilian deaths in 2012. that's not dissimilar to the accounts of other organizations that count these things. the civilian death toll has dropped remarkably in the last several years. in the 2004-2007 time frame it was about 60%. the reason is better intelligence, drones that fly longer, can linger longer over targets and more discriminatory. smaller payloads. so, you know, the fact is that the civilian casualty rate has dropped rather markedly. that said, most of the victims are low level militants. are they really a threat to the united states? that's a debatable question, i think. >> tell us about the taliban commander who was killed. >> i would say he's no loerng the leader of the taliban, but he leads a large taliban group. it's a group that had some form of cease-fire agreement with the pakistani government and wasn't

attacking in pakistan like many groups do. they were certainly attacking across the border into afghanistan, attacking u.s. and nato forces there. he was, you know, probably somebody who led in the low thousands of fighters, and he's a fairly significant leader of the group. >> do we have a sense how this will play out in the president's second term, whether or not he will continue to use these drone strikes, whether that's going to increase and how difficult that is going to be to convince the pakistanis and the rest of the world that is an appropriate strategy? >> in pakistan as you know suzanne it's deeply unpopular. the pakistani parliament voted to ban drone strikes in open, something the obama administration has sort of ignored. the number of drone strikes in pakistan go down rather dramatically, but we see the number of drone strikes in yemen where al qaeda has a virulent affiliate went up about the same time. so the number of strikes may be

declining in pakistan, but they're going up at about the same rate in yemen. the war is moving as it were. >> all right. peter bergen, thank you so much. we appreciate it. after a week of losses and bitter fighting within his own party, john boehner is up for re-election as speaker of the house. we're going to bring you the vote live from capitol hill. that is just moments away. i'm s. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks. that's the cold truth! i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan,

insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, it helps pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands in out-of-pocket costs. to me, relationships matter. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. [ male announcer ] with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and you never need a referral to see a specialist. so don't wait. call now and request this free decision guide to help you better understand medicare... and which aarp medicare supplement plan might be best for you. there's a wide range to choose from. we love to travel -- and there's so much more to see. so we found a plan that can travel with us. anywhere in the country. [ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans

endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. this is on the house floor. the scleshg of the house receiving nominations for the speaker as well and javier of california nominated nancy pelosi. she's stand tlg smiling to the be the speaker. everybody is clapping and applauding. let's listen in.

>> the names of the honorable a.j. boehner, a representative elect of the state of ohio and the honorable nancy pelosi, a representative elect from the state of california have been placed in nomination. are the further nominations? there being no further nominations, the clerk appoints the following tellers. the jelgts did the woman from michigan, mrs. miller, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. brady, the gentlewoman from ohio my cap ter and the general woman from california. the tellers will come forward and take their seats at the front desk of the speaker's rost rum.

>> the clerk of the house is receiving nominations for john boehner and nancy pelosi for the democrats. there will be a vote, the winner announced around 2:00 eastern. we want to bring in dana bash to talk about behind the scenes here, what we're watching. there's a lot of formality in the process here. but a lot of controversy as well over john boehner and whether or not he would still receive that nomination. what is taking place right now? >> well, i think what was most noteworthy about what we saw is there was no one who was nominated on the republican side in place of john boehner. that is incredibly significant because it's not that we didn't expect john boehner fob re-elected speaker no matter what. what we did think was possible was for a symbolic move to say, you know, we think someone else who is perhaps considered more conservative and more acceptable

to the conservatives to be put up, that did not happen. we saw nominations for john boehner and for nancy pelosi the on the democratic side, which is pretty standard. no one expects her to win. it's standard for democrats to do that. that was most interesting about that moment. having said that, it does not mean when there are votes for john boehner there won't be republicans voting against him as a protest vote. in fact, we know for sure -- oh, excuse me. that was just paul ryan walking behind me. that's what happens when we're in the hallways here. he says hello. >> hello back. >> reporter: what happens here is anybody can vote no or yes. on the republican side we already have heard from one congressman for example, congressman hole camp who told d.e.i.d d deidra walsh that he's going to vote against the speaker. for him in particular, he has a

very specific reason to do that. because boehner removed him from the budget committee, so he has an ax to grind. we might see other members, a sprinkling of members like that. we don't expect the 17 nos, which is all that would be needed, 17 nos to throw the nomination into item mult and what would happen is there's another roll call vote. we don't expect that it to happen. >> let's talk about the big picture here. we're watching the minutia and the formality of this, which is fascinating. boehner has to reunite his own party. the tee party folks and others from new york and new jersey not happy how he handled the sandy aid and not having that come to the house floor. how does he do that? how does he bring his party together do you suppose? >> reporter: one thing that it seems he's trying to do is to try to not put himself in a

position to be -- for them to be mad at him. one, the main reasons why he was in this pickle several times over the past two years is because he decided to try to negotiate two rather large deals with the president. it didn't go anywhere. remember the grand bargain they tried to negotiate a year and a half ago with the debt ceiling and more recently on the fiscal cliff deal. he told me a short while ago walking down this hallway into his office, there was a report he was telling his colleagues he's not going to try to do those grand bargains anymore through negotiation. he'll have them go through regular order. it always works best. legislation he wants to be written in committees, to come up through the house, to come up through the senate and to have conference committees. that's the way it's supposed to work. not to say that he won't have negotiations and won't need to have negotiations, but he is probably going to not put himself in a position for everybody to get mad at him

anymore. >> dana, describe for us what's happening on the floor. it looks like there is a roll call and there's the vote taking place where the representatives stand up and make thur vieir vi known. describe how that takes place. >> i'm looking at my blackberry because de scatter e idra walsh chamer. everybody is vote for the speaker. he mentioned no one else was nominated. that changed while we were talking. they say justin amash who is somebody who is a loner in the republican congress he nominated raul labrador. that is, again a symbolic protest that he's not nominating raul who is a member of the 2010 class, somebody who has not been happy with the ways things have gone here. he's been voted against pretty much everything because he is somebody who stands on

principle. wants to cut spending and keep taxes low no matter what. >> dana, hang with us. let's just listen in. >> boehner. brooks of indiana. >> john boehner. >> boehner. >> brown of georgia. alan west of florida. brown of florida. pelosi. brownly of california.

pelosi. buchanan. boehner. beau shon. >> john boehner. >> boehner. >> burgess. >> john boehner. >> boehner. >> buscos. pelosi. butterfield. pelosi. calvert. >> dana, i don't know if you're able to answer this question or not, but we see that they're going through the formality of nominating pelosi, but we know because the democrats don't have the majority that she would not likely be speaker. do we know if there's ever been any occasion where you didn't have the majority and they nominated a speaker that wasn't in the majority? this seems like a formality here. >> reporter: it is a formality.

because there were questions how the process works and whether or not he gets a real challenge, we looked it up. in the past 100 years, so not since 1913, only once has there been a real challenge that has forced a recurring vote. i think it was nine times in 1923 that they had to vote over and over again until they finally got a speaker. that's a long way of saying, no, this is a formality and again it's he a way for some -- for a few members to express their concern, express their protest on the republican side at least for the speaker. but we haven't really seen very much of that the at all yet. >> there was some talk about eric cantor, whether or not his name would come up as a nomination. do we know where that came from? >> well, look, because there is almost a storied rivalry between the house speaker and eric cantor and it is one that his -- the aides in both camps try it

extremely hard to tamp down to say it's totally overblown and almost a myth. in fact, the two of them made a point walking into the caucus together two days ago. it was carefully orchestrated to walk past the camera together. will there be a naum noigs for eric can for? it's hard to see it. he walked by here, and i said will the speaker be re-elected. he answered absolutely. if there were at some point a desire for change, a coup like we saw back in 1995 against newt gingrich, it's hard to imagine one of the existing members of the leadership would be there. it would probably be somebody who is a new face. >> dana, hang with us. we're going to take a quick break and get back. the vote is still taking place for the house speaker. , i'm goio trade in hong kong. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 after that, it's on to germany. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 then tonight, i'm trading 9500 miles away in japan.

tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with the new global account from schwab, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i hunt down opportunities around the world tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 as if i'm right there. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and i'm in total control because i can trade tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 directly online in 12 markets in their local currencies. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i use their global research to get an edge. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 their equity ratings show me how schwab tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 rates specific foreign stocks tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 based on things like fundamentals, momentum and risk. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and i also have access to independent tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 firms like ned davis research tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and economist intelligence unit. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 plus, i can talk to their global specialists 24/7. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and trade in my global account commission-free tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 through march 2013. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 best part... no jet lag. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-866-294-5409 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and a global specialist tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 will help you get started today.

we're following a historic moment. the 113th congress is being sworn in. the house floor is voting on who is the house speaker. it looks like support for john boehner, but dana bash is following the count here. we were talking about the possibility of protests of nominations take place. i believe we just heard two names that came up that were not john boehner's. what did you hear? >> reporter: that's right. we were talking before the break about eric cantor, and whether

there's a real challenge. the answer is now. oklahoma freshman jim brineside voted for cantor. that was clearly a protest vote. the other clear vote was from a veteran conservative democrat, jim cooper, who voted for colin powell for speaker. that is really the ultimate protest to vote for somebody who can't get the job. >> not even a part of the congress there. why do you suppose there is that kind of protest that's taking place? he was able to rally the republicans and get at least enough support to avoid the fiscal cliff. why is there a real anger, if you will, a protest vote against him? >> reporter: you know, the truth is, suzanne, this is pretty typical. when nancy pelosi was re-elected as speaker, there were a number of democrats who voted for other people.

for example, i remember gabrielle giffords voted for john lewis and not nancy pelosi. it's not unusual to have protest votes. it doesn't mean that john boehner in this case has a complete grip on power. one thing i also want to mention to you is that boehner is not on the floor right now. he's in his office at least we saw him walk this way towards his office, and he hasn't walked this way. as far as i know, there's no magic way to get from one place to the other without walking by here. so it sounds as though he might be watching from his office as opposed to being on the floor while everybody is standing up and saying his name or in some cases colin powell's name. >> maybe after he gets to the nod, he'll speak to you dana as he passes you to accept it. we'll watch closely and bring you back in as soon as it happens. we're following another story. it's name often evoking negative comments or stereotypes in the united states.

now al jazeera may come to your network. they just bought current tv. it was started by al gore and his partners. we'll bring in richard quest to talk about reaction to this. we know this is a huge in for al gentlem jazeera. what do we expect? >> i think the interesting thing is al jazeera has many networks, very similar to other networks like cnn with many different networks serving different audiences. you have the traditional arabic network and al jazeera english network and so on. what they're proposing to do with the purchase of current tv for a whooping $500 million reportedly is they're going to create a new network, al jazeera america it's believed to be called. this is the interesting thing, suzanne. this will be a network we

believe if the reports are true that will be geared to journalistically staffed in and editorially geared towards the united states. al jazeera america will be the network for the u.s. >> we should mention time warner cable immediately moved to drop current tv after the acquisition was announced, but we should note that that is not the same, of course, as time warner cable, not affiliated with the cnn's parent company time warner. does that actually give you a sense that this is going to be a tough road ahead for al jazeera america? >> no question. absolutely. first of all, current tv with its 40 to 50 million households in america was getting extraordinarily low ratings. so first of all, they've got to make sure that they keep some of those people. if time warner cable has already switched off and will switch off the feed, that means there's fewer viewers. secondly, they have to overcome

the reputational view in the united states that it is a pro -- it is a pro-terrorist network falsely. the fact is al jazeera does have that reputation from its previous interviews with al qaeda and the like. they're going to have to overcome that. put it altogether, what al zawahiri ---al jazeera is doing is paying a extraordinary amount of money for a certain number of viewers in the most competitive market in the world where frankly i'll aassure you and haven't got it officially from the bosses, fok annuals. i don't think any of us will stitt back happily. it's all yours, guys. off you go. they're getting involved until the biggest fray in news television. >> richard, we're going to stand by and watch and see how it playing out and shakes out, richard. right now we watch the house

cast the votes to decide the political futures of john boehner and nancy pelosi. we'll bring you the vote tally as soon as it happens up next. i can't imagine anything better. you're getting a ton of shrimp, and it tastes really good! [ male announcer ] hurry in to red lobster's 30 shrimp for just $11.99! choose any two of five savory shrimp selections, like mango jalapeño shrimp and parmesan crunch shrimp. two delicious shrimp selections on one plate! all with salad and unlimited cheddar bay biscuits. 30 shrimp, just $11.99 for a limited time. wow, that's a lot of shrimp. i'm ryon stewart, i'm the ultimate shrimp lover, and i sea food differently.

starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news.

wur watchie're watching the floor there. nancy pelosi is on the democrat

side. very likely it will be republican john boehner that will keep his job. we're watching as they do the voice vote from each member. we're going on to bring that to you live as soon as we get the final tally. we're also following this story. a really tragic one. police in india have charged five men in the gang rape last month of a 23-year-old medical student on a new delhi bus. the attack set off violent protests across the country. the victim died saturday in a hospital in singapore. the suspects face murder, rape, and kidnapping charges. under india's fast track court system, the trial could actually start this week. our reporter has this report. >> reporter: with thousands protesting the recent gang rape that led to the death of a medical student in new delhi, the victim's father is demanding the harshest possible punishment for her attackers. thousand t though the 23-year-old victim

has not been publicly identified, her father went on camera for the first time since her death on saturday to demand justice. >> translator: laws are made by the government, but all i sblg is that the law be the toughest it can be. the death penlt is compulsory for a crime so grave. the assailants must be hanged. >> reporter: a sentiment shared by most of the protestors who braved the cold to march in silence to the memorial honoring the country's founding father, ghandi. it's rarely carried out in india, but they say that's what needed to end the impun knit to rapists here. >> i believe this will have a huge impact on the women of delhi and the rest of the country. it will leave its mark and send a message such heinous crimes may not happen again. >> every 17 hours a woman is rained in new delhi. this victim has become a martyr, a symbol of the daily suffering so many in india face and the

shame rape victims must endure. one reason the rape victim has not been identified. she's been dubbed fearless in hindi, and some indian lawmakers suggest a new rape law be named in her honor. parliamentaryians wrote on twitter wondering what interest is concerned with anonymity of the delhi gang rape victim. why not name and honor with her own identity. the victim's father agreed. >> transtor: the law should be named after the girl. >> we're joined from new delhi, and i understand there is actually a sixth suspect in this case who has not been charged. do we know why? >> reporter: that's correct, suzanne. the sixth suspect has not been charged because he's, in fact, a juvenile. the authorities are still waiting for the final medical reports, but there are reports that suggest he's 17 years old.

if that is the case, then he actually will face a maximum charge of three years in prison, and that is, of course, very different from the case of the other five suspects who face -- who if convicted could face the death penalty. suzanne. >> thank you very much. we appreciate it. we want to remind our viewers what we're watching here ritd now. the house is casting the votes to decide the political features of john boehner and nancy pelosi. we'll bring that final tally as soon as it happens. [ male announcer ] truth is theraflu doesn't treat your cough. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a cough suppressant. great. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus severe cold and flu fights your worst flu symptoms, plus that cough with a fast acting cough suppressant. [ sighs ] thanks!... [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus. ♪ oh what a relief it is! ♪ [ male announcer ] to learn more about the cold truth and save $1 visit alka-seltzer on facebook.

humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. at liberty mutual insurance, we understand. that's why our auto policies come with accident forgiveness if you qualify, where your rates won't go up due to your first accident, and new car replacement, where, if you total your new car, we give you the money for a new one. call... to talk to an insurance expert about everything else that comes standard with our base auto policy. and if you get into an accident and use one of our certified repair shops, your repairs are guaranteed for life. call... to switch, and you could save hundreds. ♪ born to make mistakes liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

[heart beating] [heartbeat continues] [heartbeat, music playing louder] ♪ i'm feeling better since you know me... ♪ announcer: this song was created with heartbeats of children in need. find out how it can help frontline health workers bring hope to millions of children at everybeatmatters.org. second hour. right now the 113th congress is convenes fing for the first . let's listen in.

all re-elected and newly elected lawmakers taking the oath of office and are sworn in, many for the first time in the senate. vice president joe biden issued the oath of office a few hours ago. the senator signed the oath book there, and new members got an official senate pin. we'll look here. members of the house have not yet been sworn in. look at live pictures. before it happens votes have to be held on the house speaker as well as the minority leader positions. john boehner and minority leader nancy pelosi both hope to hold onto their leadership positions. the vote is happening now. it's a voice vote. we expect the results very soon. we want to bring in the team here. wolf blitzer is in washington and dana bash in capitol hill to walk us through some of this. let's talk about the names that have come up.

john boehner infuriated a lot in his own party regarding the hurricane aid that never was voted on, and also even the fiscal cliff. some of the tea party folks not happy with the deal he struck with democrats. we have heard a couple other names mentioned for speaker position. what kind of challenges does he face? >> i think he's going to be re-elected the speaker of the house. there will be some republicans who will come up with other names, already some said colin powell, just symbolic protest votes. john boehner i'm almost sure will be re-elected the speaker of the house. he'll serve in the new congress, the 113th congress. he's not a powerful speaker. he was with the minority on the fiscal cliff vote, the senate bill to the house. there was a minority of republicans who voted in favor of it. he voted in favorite of it, and made a point of voting in favorite of it, even though it's traditionally the speaker trying to avoid a lot of votes. in this particular case the

speaker wanted to specifically point out he was in favor of this fiscal cliff vote, avoiding what's called the fiscal cliff, even though the number two republican eric cantor, the majority leader voted against it. the number three republican kevin mccarthy, majority whip he voted against it. john boehner made a point of doing what he thought was right to prevent middle class families from seeing a tax increase as he explained it, if you will. so i suspect even though he's got some problems within his own coalition, the republican coalition, he'll get himself re-elected speaker in part because i don't see a whole lot of others jumping up to challenge him. >> wolf, we know a lot of big issues are coming up. the president in the second term wants to see this sense of bipartisanship. you have the federal deficit and spending cuts and the debt ceiling in the weeks ahead. do we sense this 113th congress is any more productive or willing to work with this president and his agenda?

>> i think on the economic issues, on the tax-related issues and spending cut issues they go from crisis to crisis and maybe in the 11th hour each time they avert the serious crisis once the american public gets nervous, they come up with band-aid. i suspect that big picture deal, the grand bargain they like to call it, i suspect that proving to be elusive. i see other opportunities for bipartisanship, especially on a sensitive issue like immigration reform. i could see that moving ahead between some republicans, including in the senate. marco rubio, the republican senator from florida for example working with the president and democrats on comprehensive immigration reform. lindsey graham, for example, the conservative republican senator from south carolina the. on that area i suspect there will be some cooperation. i'm less convinced that there will be a deal when it comes to new restrictions on guns in the united states. that's a much more controversial

issue, so i suspect there won't be a big deal, new initiatives on that, even though the president will try. >> all right. wolf, thanks. we'll get back to you shortly. we'll bring in dana to talk about the diversity we're seeing in the congress. it's a group we haven't seen the likes before. talk about a record number of women the in the senate. you have a record number of latinos in the house, openly gay senator as well. does this give the president a chance of getting his agenda done? is this a friendlier group of people in terms of moving forward and some of the things he wants to do? >> reporter: i'm not so sure if it's friendlier. i think the fact there are more democrats here in the house and in the senate will help the president, even though there hasn't been a change in the balance of power. definitely with regard to the kind of plirts priorities people have.

tammy duckworth is a new member of congress from the president's home state of illinois. they ran a few years ago and lost. this time she won. she talked about the idea of more diversity. lynn to what she said. >> it means we reflect america more. the district where i come from is a very diverse district, and it's good fooz congress look like the rest of america. you see the demographics shifts across the country. that certainly happening in the 8th district of illinois. so to see congress shifting in that direction i think is good for the nation. >> reporter: so that is definitely an interesting perspective. and we heard from the democratic leader, who, of course, is a woman, nancy pelosi. he she made the point that she believes there should be more women because women are more consensus builders when we heard from some of the new 20 women who are in the senate, which, of course, is also a historic high. i want to say one thing you

appreciate, suzanne. there's probably only positives with more women here, but for us females in the press corps here that have an annual softball game against the fee maelt members of congress, sg more might not be the greatest for us competitively. a lot look athletic. we have to recruit you, suzanne. >> i'll get on the team. we were seeing those pictures there of all of the women there together. lots of different colors. there's going to be a lot of different outfits, of course, but a different perspective as well. that's representative of what it country looks like. dana, you've been there all day and covering this hour by hour and minute by minute. give us a sense of the flavor, if you will. >> reporter: it is always a -- it sounds corny, but an inspiring day to have the new congress sworn in. i've seen many of them over the years, and you have membered of congress here with their children on one hand, and you have their parents beaming, you

know, looking over them in the other. so there's no question that that is -- even though there is a lot of anger, there's a lot of toxicity here, this is a breath of newness that is definitely needed here. one thing that our ted barrett who you know well who has covered congress for a long time, he said which nails the atmosphere here, you have the feeling of the last day of school and first day of school at the same time, because usually they get to go home and get a break. everybody remembers the last day of skul. you want to get out and exhausted and on edge and done. the first day of school you feel refreshed. you have the same thing on the same day. it's a weird combination. >> that's a great way to describe it, dana. we hope they get a lot done in the new session as well. dana, thank you very much. good to see you as always. wolf, good to see you as well. we'll bring you back as the news warrants, but we'll continue to follow this throughout the hour. we're watching for two news

conferences up happening regards the sandy hook elementary school massacre. connecticut governor dannel malloy will aannounce the first step in the state's response to that tragedy when that gunman killed 20 children and 7 adults in newtown, connecticut. the opportunities retu students today in the neighboring town of monroe. we expect to hear fromle local officials from monroe as well as newtown how that is going today. the house is set to vote on $9 billion in federal aid. that's happening tomorrow. even if this bill passes doesn't mean that the money is immediately going to begin flowing there. we're going to talk to the mayor of new orleans trying to get all of the fema money promised after hurricane katrina, which hit back in 2005. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane?

yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir. i'll believe that when pigs fly. ok, did she seriously just say that? geico. just click away with our free mobile app. can youlyric can.aid do this? lyric can. lyric can. lyric by phonak is the world's only 24/7, 100% invisible hearing device. it's tiny. but that might be the least revolutionary thing about lyric. lyric can be worn 24/7 for up to four months, without battery changes. call 1-800-414-5999 for a risk-free trial. cookie: there's absolutely no way anyone can see it even if they get right up to my ear. michael: wake up, go to sleep...showering, running, all your activities. lyric can also give you exceptionally clear, natural sound in quiet and noisy environments because of how it works with your ear's own anatomy. can your hearing aid do all this? lyric can.

to learn more about lyric's advanced technology, call 1-800-414-5999 or visit trylyric.com for a risk-free 30 day trial offer and free dvd and brochure. get the hearing aid that can. lyric from phonak. lyric can. with odor free aspercreme. powerful medicine relieves pain fast, with no odor. so all you notice is relief.

aspercreme. we're looking at live p pictures here. a voice vote is taking place for the house speaker. john boehner's name on the republican side has come up and is widely expected to maintain that position. nancy pelosi, of course, would be in the minority position being one of the democrats and leader of the democratic party for the house there. but, again, you see the count is taking place. we expect to have those results in about 30 minutes or is so. we're told, and we're going to bring that live. we saw the 113th congress on the senate side, new members sworn in. we have 13 new senators today sworn in, and 84 new representatives in the house. 113th congress starts their first official day today. house speaker john boehner has

scheduled two votes in the next couple of weeks on $60 billion in aid for victims of superstorm sandy after his fellow republicans including chris christie and new york representative peter king. they slammed him for canceling a vote on the money earlier this week. tomorrow the house is set to vote on $9 billion for federally backed national flood insurance program. on january 15th members will decide on a another $51 billion, most of that to help the homeowners and the local governments rebuild the damaged property. but if you think yes votes mean an immediate influx of cash to the area, think again. it's more than 7 years since hurricane katrina and in new orleans officials fight every day for federal money to repair the city's play grounds and water pipes, the sidewalks and the auditorium. i want to bring in mitch landrieu. it's always good to see you. there's outrage from folks over whether or not they're going to

get this money from this aid bill. we know that with katrina it took less than two weeks to authorize the first of several federal recovery packages, and you were lieutenant-governor at the time. but money is slow going. it trickles in, and there's a lot of frustration in new jersey and new york. explain what that process is like. >> well, first of all, it's perfectly understandable that our fellow americans in connecticut, new york and new jersey are frustrated. when you get hit by a major catastrophe like this and many american citizens lose everything they have and you're cold without electricity, you know, the first and most immediate thing that all americans lead it to is the rescue. shortly after that there's this lull, and that's where they are right now where congress, you know, starts to think about what the aid package looks like. our encouragement from the beginning is to get aid there as quickly as you possibly can so the governors and mayors and county executives can start to plan to get the money to the ground and rebuild the

communities better and back like they were before. it's been an incredibly frustrating process for them. for those of us in the city of new orleans and louisiana, we tried to help and work through that process with them. we support getting aid there more quickly than congress has done. it happened before halloween, so we can understand their frustration. it seems like they have gotten back on track now, and the speaker is committed to a vote tomorrow and on the 15th. that's a very encouraging sign. >> even though president bush in congress approved the money relatively soon after katrina, your administration seven years later is trying to get your hands on some federal recovery dollars. s why that? >> right. i'll tell you this. first of all, the catastrophic event and the damage that is attendant it to that is huge. for people who have forgotten, we had 500,000 homes damaged, over 250,000 destroyed. the city was underwater for three weeks for over 18 days. now, the event that occurred in sandy actually covered more land and more space and more time. it takes a huge amount of time

and effort to make sure that the right amount of money is there and that it gets to the ground quickly. in this particular bill that was shelved the other day that will get back on track, we helped craft some authorizing language that helps fema break through the bury rock see and get the money there faster. he hope the language stays in the bill. they don't wrote a check for 61 billion. you have to prove you need it and show where you spent it and make sure they see what you spent it on. it's a very cumbersome, bureaucratic process that those of us on the groun hope it gets streamlined over time. it's the stafford act and it's a cumbersome process. we have to find a way in america to repair things much more quickly than we have in the event of katrina. i hope they learned the lessons with sandy and use it as an opportunity to recraft the stafford act to give them more tools so the governors and county executives get it to

people more quickly. >> why hasn't that happened already? i don't understand that. why hasn't it gotten better? >> first of all, the recovery process here is now blown and gone. we're getting ready to host a super bowl. we hosted the sugar bowl last night. we're rebuilding police stations and fire stations and have hit our stride, but the bureaucratic process is really cumbersome. fema was never organized to be a recovery agency. was there to rescue and respond. we really in this country have never gotten response to major catastrophic issues in my opinion in place. of course, the rest of the country is going to suffer these things, too, because you have an earthquake, a terrorist attack, a hurricane, a tornado. we have a lot of them. they seem to be coming with more frequency. we have to get better at this. the thing that congress can do really quickly here is do i understand of get to the business of getting to new york and new jersey and connecticut the funds that the governors and the county executives need to rebuild the lives of these american citizens. it's always been our practice.

we don't leave american citizens behind in time of emergency. getting money there quickly and having a streamlined process so restore americans to normalcy, which is what they really need, is something that's important. i understand the frustration of governor chrissy and mayor cuomo and the entire time. hopefully congress will act quickly. we need to stand up and help them. >> we hope that members of congress are listening to that message today. we appreciate your time. we know that you know about this firsthand, so thanks again. we appreciate it. they witnessed one of the deadliest school shootings in our history. now sandy hook elementary students are returning to class. what are the parents thinking and feeling as they now wait for the kids to return home?

where is flo? anybody know where flo is? are you flo? yes. is this the thing you gave my husband? well, yeah, yes. the "name your price" tool. you tell us the price you want to pay, and we give you a range of options to choose from. careful, though -- that kind of power can go to your head. that explains a lot. yo, buddy! i got this. gimme one, gimme one, gimme one! the power of the "name your price" tool. only from progressive.

for the first time since the december massacre at sandy hook elementary school, classes are back in session for those students. they're not in the same building in newtown, connecticut. the sandy hook elementary has been moved to a school that's in the neighboring town of monroe. now, local officials from both monroe and newtown are holding news conferences this hour to talk about how it's going. connecticut governor dannel malloy has announced the first step in the state's response to that killing. i want to go live now to our deb feyerick in monroe, connecticut. you know, a lot of people, this is a really tough day for a lot of folks here. they're trying to make it as normal as possible. you're talking to folks. how is this going? >> reporter: well, you know, it's so interesting. there was a lot of concern, a lot of worry going into today. school officials did everything they could to make the kids as comfortable as possible, even

having orientation and open houses so the kids could come and look the at their desks. we're joined by a very special family, sarah and her daughter abby in kindergarten, right? abby, how was your day today? >> good. >> reporter: what was it like, your new classroom? >> fun. >> reporter: what did it look like? were your toys there and your can you be y cubby and things? >> yes. >> reporter: what about all your friends? >> yes. >> reporter: was it really busy in the school today? >> yes. >> reporter: were you worried at all? >> a little. >> reporter: what did you do to make yourself feel better? did you see the dogs by any chance? >> no. >> i got to come to class. >> reporter: you you did go to class? >> i did for a little bit. >> reporter: talk about that. what was it like inside the school today when you got there and throughout the morning? >> honestly, it was like the

first day of school. everybody -- there were consequence l counselors and therapy dogs and all the parents. there was a little anxiety. everybody was happy to get back in the swing of things, and the teachers were amazing. just were carrying on as if they were back on track and hadn't skipped a beat and were hugging every child they saw and escorting everybody. it was a wonderful, wonderful experience. >> reporter: did you see a lot of parents or children going and talking to the counselors? >> no, not really. it was really the beginning part of the morning, and the kids were just happy to be back and they were really enjoying themselves. >> reporter: did abby at any point ask to see you or did you sit in the class with her in the beginning? >> she asked the night before if i went with her. after i saw the parents in the auditorium, i helped up in the classroom there a little bit. >> reporter: were they normal everyday activity force the most part? >> absolutely. they wrote where they went and drawing their picture and going to circle time and sharing.

>> reporter: the parents for the most part brought a lot more knowledge into this than the kids. how did they handle it? >> there were some emotional moments in the beginning of the day. but i think once everybody got there and saw the community and the way the school was all set and ready and everybody that was there for support, you couldn't walk around a corner without somebody asking did you need something? are you okay? there was coffee and everything was set up for us. i think that made everybody feel at ease. >> reporter: did you see any of the siblings of the 20? >> no, i did not see any of them. >> reporter: so abby, when you go back to class, it's a new school, but you think the school is going to be okay? >> yes. >> reporter: are you nervous anymore? >> no. >> reporter: you think you want your mom to come tomorrow, or you you think you'll be okay? >> i think i'll be okay. >> reporter: awesome. abby and sarah, thank you so much. that's it. one day at a time, one small

step at a time. you know, there's he a little boy we spoke to earlier, he wants to take this -- he wants to make a school mascot, which is a turtle, he wants that to be the new school mascot with a slogan one step at a time, and i think that's what we're seeing suzanne. >> that's really nice and a relief to see things went well that first day and obviously every single day is going to count and matter in their healing. thank you so much. the shooting at sandy hook stirred interest in self-defense and promoted renewed talk about limiting firearms which might have led to pour gun sales. fbi data showing background checks for buying guns set a record number in december. the fbi says it has recorded 2.78 million background checks in december aalone. in november there were 2.1 million checks. there were 1.86 million checks in december of 2011. figures do not represent the number of firearms sold. someone who passes a background

check is eligible, however, to buy multiple firearms. guns are the 33nd leading cause of death among kids between the ages of 5 and 14. pediatricians are on the front line trying to educate parents about the dangers of the guns, but some might be silenced. why doctors are being told to back off. we're also waiting as well. you see the pictures on the house floor. who the next speaker is going to be of the house, widely expected to be john boehner, and they were taking a verbal vote there. we're getting close to the tally, the final tally as you see there. they're tallying that up. as soon as we get that announcement, we'll bring it to you live.

today is the moment fr for a personal triumph from a senator from illinois. mark kirk suffered a severe stroke a year ago and had to relearn how to walk. he returned for the first time today and walked up the capitol steps. this really is a very touching moment. elizabeth cohen joins us to talk about his journey. i mean, how did he do this? >> it was a year-long journey. he had a stroke that, as you can see, made it extremely difficult to walk. he had to relearn all of that. you know what part of the key was? he went through a rehab program very intensive. it wasn't just all the regular stuff that they do. it was a lot of walking. it was a lot of going up stairs. it was very intense. it went on longer than many other rehab programs do. we were talking to a prominent

stroke doctor today, suzanne, and he wishes every stroke patient had this kind of rehab and that it didn't just end. it goes on for years and years even after someone appears to be getting better. >> members of congress have a great insurance package and great medical coverage. is that the thing that normal stroke patients would have access to when you look at what he was able to do? >> this doctor said a lot of health insurance programs give you a set time, a matter of a couple of months for rehab and say you're done. when you have great insurance or when you can pay for it yourself, you can do it longer. he's very frustrated with insurance companies that they don't allow for a long period of time for rehab. >> is it possible that he could see a full recovery? he's gone so far from where he was before. could he actually completely recover? >> sure. it is possible to completely recover. we were talking to doctors about the type of stroke he had. they said, yes, that does happen. he had a patient with that kind of stroke who went on to run

marathons. he ran them before, so he was able to run them after. not everyone does. it's based on the person and type of stroke. a lot of different factors. >> we saw the students coming back it to sandy hook elementary he school after that shooting. doctors are drawn into the gun debate. this is the editor of the major jr. in the wake of horrific deaths of 20 children, physicians should resolve as we begin 2013 to raise our voices on the matter of guns. we have heard doctors speak out when it comes to smoking and car seats and things like that. is it appropriate, do you think, now that they are moving forward it to talk about the gun debate? >> doctors have been instrumental in better seat belt laws, alaws about child safety seats, all of that. now they're saying, hey, why aren't we doctors being louder on this issue? it's a matter of public safety. if you look at the public health, define it in more of a broad way, it's about keeping americans safe. take a look at these statistics and you see what i mean. this is just children and teens,

not even talking about adults here. when you look at these numbers, 5, 5,740 children and teens were killed by guns in 2008 and 2009. that's more than 5,000 deaths in two years alone, 34,387 injuries among children and teens and it's the third leading cause of death for children. doctors are says we're doctors, and we want to keep people safe. the leading cause of death for children. why shouldn't we get involved? >> they're starting to speak out. when they get their colleagues it to write editorials and do things, they hold back. we ask why they hold back. they say according to this editorial writer that the doctors are scared. they're scared they're going to lose federal funding for their other projects if they're vocal on gun control. >> wow. >> that's interesting. >> thank you, elizabeth. appreciate it. there's been a settlement we are learning here between the justice department and one of the companies involved in the oil disaster in the gulf. we're going to bring that to you

after a quick break. so, um, whoever's fathered the most children, gets the most data. let's just do it by hair. body hair? most dental work. what? [ phones buzzing and beeping ] stop downloading, and stop liking everything. it should be by who has the least amount of cartilage in their left knee. [ mom ] i just want to take a bath. [ male announcer ] say no to sharing. say yes to sprint. with truly unlimited data, text and calling. five days later, i had a massive heart attack. bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ woman ] learn from my story. [ slap! ] [ slap! slap! slap! slap! ] ow! ow! [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium-rich tums starts working so fast you'll forget you had heartburn. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums

we're looking at capitol hill. this is the house floor, and the final tally is in on the speaker of the house. they have voted. dana bash has followed it all morning. what do we know? >> reporter: that john boehner has been re-elected to be the speaker of the house.

you see the picture there of what's going on on the floor. they're still officially tallying it and doing it the old-fashioned way with pencils and paper. we understand from sources in the republican party who are out there that he has enough votes to be speaker of the house. so as we've been talking abou e all morning and afternoon, there were some protest votes and symbolic absent shuns and sill bolick votes for other people. eric cantor, for example, two of those. but john boehner has been re-elected as speaker of the house. >> what happens next, dana? i think he's going to be introduced by nancy pelosi and speaks before the full group. is that correct? >> reporter: that's right. we expect to hear remarks from the speaker in a short while as soon as they finish formally tallying the votes to formally make him the speaker. it will be very interesting to hear the tone that he strikes given the kind of rough week,

maybe rough month he's had. >> when do they start working, dana? when do they get to work, toke? >> they do tomorrow. speaking of the rough week he had, one thing they'll do tomorrow is to vote on at least nine -- about $9 billion in federal aid for sandy victims. remember, he decided not to take that vote in the lame duck session, which ended yesterday. actually, formally ended today, but they were supposed to take the vote yesterday, and then because of the very loud, very vocal, and very personal complaints about that decision, he sort of reversed course yesterday and said he would do 9 billion of the 60 billion tomorrow and then the rest will be on the first formal legislative day of the session, which is going to be january 15th, suzanne. >> all right. dana bash, thank you very much. we look forward to seeing you get back to work and getting work dpon there on capitol hill. we'll take a quick break and follow up with some other news.

it's called a reverse mortgage. [ male announcer ] call right now to receive your free dvd and booklet with no obligation. it answers questions like how a reverse mortgage works, how much you qualify for, the ways to receive your money, and more. plus, when you call now, you'll get this magnifier with l.e.d. light absolutely free. when you call the experts at one reverse mortgage today, you'll learn the benefits of a government-insured reverse mortgage. it will eliminate your monthly mortgage payments and give you tax-free cash from the equity in your home. and here's the best part -- you still own your home. take control of your retirement today. ♪ ♪

we have a major development in the investigation into the 2010 gulf oil spill. transocean, which owned the drilling rig that exploded in the gulf of mexico has agreed to pay $1.4 billion in civil and criminal fines violating the federal clean water act. the penalties are broken down like. a billion in civil fines plus $400 million in criminal fines. this is a key here.

thr three-quarters of money will go to conservation in the gulf of mexico. we'll bring in david mattingly following this. tell us about some of the details of this deal. >> this is a big deal. remember in the months after the disaster happened you had all parties involved pointing the finger at the other saying they were responsible for this. this is one of the major parties involved in this negotiating salgtsment with the justice department saying yes, we were involved. we had some negligence involved in this. they agreed to pay not just criminal but civil settlement as well. so in addition to just the amount they pay, the fact there's an admission here, that is significant here. >> what are we talking about in terms of the scope of this. >> look at the statements by the justice department and transocean. first the justice department. they clearly said today the

transocean deep water incorporated has admitted members of its crew on board of deep water horizon were negligent in failing fully to investigate clear indications that the well was not secure and that oil and gas were flowing into the well. that there really crystallizes what the justice department is after here. transocean for its part is looking forward. they put out a statement saying this is a positive step forward, but it is also a time to reflect on 11 men that lost their lives aaboard the deep water horizon. the families are in the thoughts and prayers of all of us as transocean. this is a big day for the states along the gulf coast. a lot of that goes to coastal restoration and preservation of those areas hardest hit by this. >> how does it compare to the penalties against bp? >> bp agreed to $4.5 billion largely a criminal settlement with the government. rilt now we're waiting. they're going to court in

february to work out what sort of civil penalties there might be there. that, in addition to the 7.8 billi billion they paid out to individual claims in this case. this case is not done by a long shot but the government sdon with transocean. >> appreciate the update. a lot of fresh faces on the hill today as the 113th congress is in. the lawmakers, and also the new house speaker who was the old house speaker, john boehner.

the 113th congress is looking different than the last

one. there's 97 freshmen, 84 the in the nous and 13 in the senate. democrats gained seats in both chambers, two more in the senate and eight more in the house. 20 women were elected to the senate in november and that's a record high. 28 latinos are in the house. that's another record set. they have their first openly gay member, tammy baldwin. dana bash has followed this all on capitol hill. dana, we have a couple of things to talk about. first of all, the new group here. a new congress, very diverse, very different than the previous one. any sense that they are actually going on to get more done and behavior different than the last grd? >> that's right. when you talk about diversity, we have a new member here and not quite yet because he hasn't been sworn in. i promised we would not keep him here long enough. keep us honest here. this is joe garcia from florida. thank you nor joining us.

you are going to be in a few moments a democrat freshman. how do you feel about your caucus for the first time being not majority white men? >> look, look across the chamber and look at the democratic side, think look american. it's a wonderful thing. we have women, hispanics, african-americans. it's diverse. it looks like our country, and hopefully beyond that we'll all be able to get together and deal with the problems of the country. everybody is committed to doing that. >> what does it mean in real terms how you ledge at a time it's a more diverse congress. >> it's just understanding. it's understanding overlooking sectors of community. my district is the majority minority, 62% hispanic. that doesn't mean i don't enjoy every single aspect of that district. it's 10% african-american, 20% angulos, but it's a place where all those folks are doing the same thing. in the south we have, you know, key west, which is a wonderful place, fishing, resort area, to

the north in my district some of the largest suburbs in the country and the fastest-growing and in the center we have homeste homestead, which is an ago du agricultural community. they're facing the same problems the rest of the country is facing. we need to get together and start resolving problems. when you have to fix your car, i don't know if your mechanic is a democrat or republican or do you care. you want it work. most send us up to washington. at least my district gives me that great honor to fix problems, and that's what we'll do. >> you're from the southern-most district in the united states, south florida. that's usually represented tended to be when you talk about your cuban community by more republicans than democrats. what do you think happened, and does that say anything about the nature of the community that you're from and where they're going politically? >> i think people are looking at this, and they want things to work. when one doesn't work, you you try something else.

that's the practicality of the american spirit. we're not an ideological people. >> we're going to have to interrupt just for a he moment, dana, if you will. >> reporter: excuse me one second. >> john boehner is walking into the xham bechamber. let's watch. applause ] [ applause ]

[ applause ] >> speaker boehner there being greeted and applauded by his colleagues there in the house chamber. what will happen next in about ten minutes or so, you would see democratic leader nancy pelosi make a brief introduction. following that, speaker boehner will again address the house and address his colleagues. i want to bring in dana bash to talk a little bit about what this is, this particular week has been like for the speaker. it's been a rather rough one here. earlier you had a had a revolt party folk who is wouldn't go

along with the plan b averting the fiscal cliff on a more modest scale. people who are not happy. then you had new jersey and new york folks who wanted sandy aid. here he is going to the podium and sit and nancy pelosi will introduce him. let's listen in. >> colleagues. colleagues. to my fellow members of the house of representatives, it is

a high honor to welcome you to the 113th congress. [ applause ] to our newest members of congress, it is a special privilege and honor to welcome you and your families and extend congratulations to the newest members of congress. welcome. [ applause ] to reach this day, each of us has been strengthened by our faith and our families. with the full and grateful heart, i want to thank my family, my husband of 49 years, paul pelosi.

our children, nancy, corinne, jacquelyn, paul, and alexandra. our grandchildren who are represented here today by our daughter matldeline and i have include their family in that gratitude as well. i must thank my constituents in san francisco for giving me the privilege of representing that beautiful and diverse city in the congress of the united states. each of us here today is truly a representative. a representative in the truest sense of the word to represent the highest hopes and aspirations of the american people. on new year's eve, some of you, a large number of members of congress joined hundreds of people at the national archives building where we observed at

midnight the 150th anniversary of the signing of the emancipation proclamation. [ applause ] at midnight, there was an enactment of harriet tubman ringing the bell. as she rang the bell, she said "now we are free." it was great an incredible moment. it was one that ushered in what president lincoln would call a new birth of freedom for his era and for generations to come. that transformative moment in our history is a reminder of the best traditions we have as a people. the ability and obligation of each generation of americans to renew the promise of our

founders. to carry forward the torch of progress. to reignite the american dream. his who we are as americans. this is the character of our country. this is the strength of our democracy. the strength of our democracy rests on a strong and driving middle class. the backbone of our democracy, that middle class is. so we have a moral imperative to invest in good paying jobs here at home and in the prosperity of our people. as we build our infrastructure and reduce the deficit. we must ensure that innovation rests at the heart of our success. we remain first in science, technology, engineering and energy. we educate and prepare our nung people for the opportunities of tomorrow.

when we make it in america, all of america's families can make it in america. [ applause ] the strength of our democracy demands we restore the confidence of the american people in our political process. we must empower the voters. we must remove obstacles of participation in our democracy for all americans. we must increase the level of civility and reduce the role of money in our elections -- [ applause ] when we do, we will elect more women and minorities and young people to public office and that's a good thing. the american people are what make our country great. by and large, the united states is a nation of immigrants.

built, enriched and strengthened by men, women, and children who share our patriotism and seek the american dream. the strength of our democracy will be advanced by bold action for comprehensive immigration reform. today we take an oath to protect and defend our constitution, our people, and our freedom. to protect and defend. that is our first responsibility. our democracy requires that we each uphold the duty of keeping americans safe in their homes and schools and in their neighborhoods. as we mourn the families of

newtown, we know ensuring the safety of all americans would be a truly meaningful tribute to the children and teachers of sandy hook elementary school. for the strength of our democracy and the sake of our children, let us work together to protect and defend all of our people. [ applause ] in the same year that president lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation the statue was unveiled at the capitol dome. that continues to be a beacon of freedom to the world and source of inspiration for all who had the honor to serve in congress. as we take our oath of office today, let us renew the promise of freedom.

let us work in friendship and partnership to live up to the legacy of our founders and aspirations of our constituents. let us renew the strength of democracy by reigniting the american dream. as we celebrate this moment, let us honor and thank those american who is protect our democracy and secure our freedom. our veterans and our men and women in uniform where their families and wherever they serve. [ applause ] god bless them, god bless america, thank you all. now the house will continue to be led by a proud son of ohio. a man of conviction and a public servant of resolve.